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Dirty Little Secrets : The Persistence of Corruption in American Politics Hardcover – April 9, 1996

by Larry Sabato (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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Political corruption in America is worse today than it has been since the Watergate era.  Americans know it, and the politicians have known it for years.  Urgent calls for reform have become standard fare, but nothing changes.  A Democrat President and a Republican Congress were both elected on the strength of their promises of reform. Neither has delivered. Americans contemplate the tottering remains of our ethically bankrupt political system with despair.

Fact: The Christian Coalition's 1994 voter guides appear to have been skewered to favor Republican candidates in key congressional races across the country, in direct contravention of federal election law.

The truth is, the politicians couldn't be happier dickering over the remains of the welfare state.  Because, as you'll learn in Dirty Little Secrets, there is probably not a politician in America who does not benefit directly, personally, and continually from the status quo.

Fact: The state Democratic party in Tennessee paid sums in excess of six figures to a number of groups and organizations for various political services in 1994.  The problem?  None of the groups actually exist, except on paper.

Our Politicians, from those in the highest reaches of the Republican and Democratic parties to those in the humblest state congressional districts, evade, massage, and even break the law in order to hold on to power. But instead of merely unmasking corrupt politicians in every region of the country, Dirty Little Secrets analyzes why corruption persists in American politics, despite scandal after scandal, and in spite of periodic bursts of reform.

Fact: On the eve of the 1994 elections, mock "pollsters" called up thousand of voters in one Wisconsin congressional district to ask whether their electoral decisions would be influenced if they knew one of the candidates was a lesbian.

Most politicians want to do the right thing. But they also want to be reelected, and the system is far stronger than any honest man or woman. The influence of money and the intricacies of the levers of power make it easier for politicians to ignore the law than to obey it. In Dirty Little Secrets you will read of the conservative movement's hidden manipulations in 1994, and learn the truth about Newt Gingrich's twenty-year program of political destabilization. The history of the corrupt House the Democrats built with the help of liberal interest groups stands revealed.  And Larry J. Sabato and Glenn R. Simpson expose the corrupt and illegal tactics both parties have used for decades to protect and promote their own power.

Fact: In 1994, in Alabama, one local election was decided by three hundred votes.  Seventeen hundred ballots cast in that election were illegally admitted absentee ballots, some of them submitted by dead people.

Sabato and Simpson's fresh reporting and thousands of hours of background research include interviews with influential politicians, consultants, and political operatives, Freedom of Information Act requests, and thousands of pages of obscure campaign reports. They prove corruption is not about bad apples or colorful local traditions. And they offer a completely original plan for reform--Deregulation Plus--that will frighten both parties and make the American electorate smile for the first time in years. Dirty Little Secrets pulls together the corruption story from all parts of the country so overwhelmingly that no one--from the White House to your house--will be able to deny that political reform must be one of the key issues of the 1996 election campaign.
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  1. Print length
    430 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Crown
  4. Publication date
    April 9, 1996
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.75 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0812924991
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0812924992
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Americans are cynical about the political system and Larry J. Sabato and Glenn R. Simpson have undertaken considerable research to determine why. What they found was a system of democracy that "serves special interests more than the general citizenry." Simpson, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Sabato, a political scientist and author of Feeding Frenzy, lend credibility to this report and lob volleys at both political parties for promising to change the system while at the same time working to perpetuate it.

From Library Journal

Political scientist Sabato (When Should the Watchdogs Bark?, Center for Media & Public Affairs, 1994) and journalist Simpson offer a work that is much more journalistic than academic in tone. Loosely drawn definitions, spotty and anecdotal evidence, and a lack of statistical or analytical proof fail to establish an overall picture of political corruption. Yet through careful investigation the authors demonstrate a disturbing variety of the political tricks and outright crimes that are polluting the American political scene. They are even-handed in showing that a lot of skullduggery can be attributed to both major political parties and to most shades of public opinion. Their suggestions for improving the situation are sensible and realistic. Recommended for public and most academic libraries.?Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown; First Edition (April 9, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 430 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0812924991
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812924992
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.75 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

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Larry Sabato

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
6 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert L. Dixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Underappreciated book now very timely!
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2000
I first read this book a couple years ago and was very impressed with the thoroughness of the authors' research. They make some very forceful points but they provide all the evidence needed to back them up.
The chapter on Voter Fraud in particular is now quite timely. They point out that voter fraud is rampant throughout the U.S., but somehow the media rarely talks about it. Now everyone is shocked about the goings-on in the Presidential election in Florida, but if more people had acted on the findings in Dirty Little Secrets perhaps we'd have reformed things by now.
11 people found this helpful
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Arthur Digbee
3.0 out of 5 stars Great anecdotes, unsatisfactory analysis, useful suggestions for reforms
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2006
This book has an accurate title and inaccurate subtitle. It deals with dirty politics, not corruption. Innuendo that your opponent is a child molester is despicable and unethical, but it's not "corrupt." Buying and selling votes is "corrupt."

Why do I insist on the distinction? It's important because it affects how we think about reforming the system. Reforms addressing the role of money in politics are different than reforms addressing sleazy campaigns.

Though the authors wrongly mix corruption and dirty tricks throughout their book, their last chapter on reforms does a much better job distinguishing the two. It presents a pretty clear analysis of causes and effects, and the recommendations are pretty sensible.

The book rests on a series of stories about candidates Jones or Smith behaving badly. It must be admitted that these candidates and their staffs do behave badly indeed. But how typical are these examples? The book has no evidence that they are widespread, other than the fact that their interviewees said, "Everybody does it." Well, I am sure that not *everybody* does it, and even Sabato and Williams interviewed some people who don't do it. Any reformer might start with the honest politicians and think about how we can make more of them, rather than trying to make fewer dishonest politicians.

Why do candidates and staffs engage in dirty tricks? Sabato and Williams say that these tricks help them win. Do they? Sabato and Williams have no evidence other than the beliefs of their interviewees.

What does that tell us about our ethical heroes who refuse to engage in dirty tricks? Presumably, they do it because not doing dirty tricks help *them* win. Does ethical probity help a candidate win? Perhaps. Do the answers to these questions matter - - a lot - - for how we think about reforming the system? Almost certainly.

As these comments suggest, I found much of the book unsatisfactory in analytical terms. However, it's built on a great litany of dirty tricks. Chapter after chapter tells stories about both corruption and dirty tricks, and it's a real eye-opener despite my objections above.

Finally, the authors make much of the fact that the book is written by a journalist and a political scientist, presumably gaining from the strengths of each approach. However, the book reads like straight journalism, so it's not clear what, if anything, "political science" contributed. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
7 people found this helpful
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P S. Kania
5.0 out of 5 stars SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2004
I read this book about five years ago and am now reading it again. It's well-written, well-documented and as enjoyable the second time as it was the first. From vote fraud, to how they keep getting re-elected, it's all in this book. I highly recommend it.
3 people found this helpful
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